Ethelbeet belknap



(NoModeL) a v E. BELKNAP.

ROLLERPOR SIZING OR FBLTING HAT BODIES.

VNO. 304,254'. l 'Patented Aug. 26, 1884.

N. PETERS. mabumqgmpmr. waahingmn. D, C.

'ilNrrnn STATES ,Armar Frisia..

ETHELBERT BELKNAP, 'OF YONKERS, NEY YORK, ASSIGNOR TO THE YONKEBS HAT MANUFACTURING COMPANY, OF SAME PLACE.

ROLLER FOR SIZING AND FELTING HAT-BODIES.-

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 304,254, dated August 26, 1884.

Application ilcd May 8, 1884. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern,.-

Be it known that I, ETHELBERT BELKNAP, a citizen ofthe United States, residing at Yonkers, county of Vestchester, State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Rollers foi` Sizing or Felting Hat-Bodies, of which the following is a specification.

In another application for Letters Patent led even date herewith I have described and claimed an improvement in rollers for sizing or felting hat-bodies, which consists in providing said rollers with longitudinal elastic ribs of uniform thickness throughout their length, and having` greater exibility at their central parts than at their ends, so that they will more easily compress at their parts where they act on the thicker parts of the hat rolls, composed of a number of bats rolled together, thus knitting the felt in a better and more regular manner than can be done by the rollers heretofore used for this purpose.

The invention embraced in this application aims to accomplish a like result by making the elastic ribs of the rollers straight on their outer or active edges, and having a decreasing amount of material in their cross-sections from the ends towardv the centers, by reducing in thickness the centers of theribs, or by making the ribs hollow, or perforating them with vertical or transverse holes, so sized and arranged as to remove more material from the center than at the ends.

To describe myinvention more particularly, Iwill now refer to the accompanying drawings, forming part of this speciiication, in

Figure l represents the side view of aroller for sizing or felting hat-bodies provided with elastic ribs of less sectional area at the central parts than at the ends. Fig. 2 is a transverse section of the same. Figs. 3 to 7 are top views and central transverse sections of elastic ribs, showing various ways in which their iieXibility may be increased at their central parts according to my present invention. 4

The elastic ribs ct a, made of suitable material-as vulcanized india-rubberof even texture throughout their length, are secured to the periphery of the roller b by means of the slats bb, constructed to overlap the longitudinal ribs c c, formed 011 the bottom edges of the ribs, said slats b b being fastened to the roller b by means of screws or nails. The ribs ac are made more flexible at their central parts by having formed in their upper surfaces the chambers a c', gradually decreasing in width, and depth, if necessary, from the centers to points at or near the ends of the ribs. By this construction of the ribs it will be seen that their action on hat-rolls which are thickest in the middle is to subject them to a pressure uniform or in proportion to the mass of the material in the different parts of the hat-rolls, it beinghnderstood that rollers provided with such ribs are used in groups of three, as described in my other application.

In the modication shown at Fig. 3 the rib is cut away at the sides, so as to form taper de` pressions a2 a2, to gradually reduce the amount of the uniformly elastic material of which it is made from the ends to the center of the ribs, and Fig. 6 illustrates how the ileXibility may be increased toward the center of the rib by the vertical holes a3 a3, which gradually decrease in size toward the ends.

Vhere it is desired to retain the top or active surface of the ribs intact and of full width throughout, I propose to make the side depressions, ct at, (see Fig. 4,) similar to the depressions a2 ft2 of Fig. 3, but form them on the under surface instead of the top surface, and, as shown at Fig. 5, the chamber c5 is formed in the under side instead ofthe top side, as at a', Figs. l and 2; or the holes a a, Fig. 7, gradually decreasing in size from the center to the ends of the rib, may be formed laterally th rough it instead of being arranged vertically, as shown'at Fig. 6. The upper or active surfaces of the ribs in all these modifications are -indicated by theletter d, and the ribs may be provided with longitudinal flanges, as shown in Figs. l and 2, as a means for securing them to the roller, or may be simplysecured in grooves formed longitudinally or spirally in the periphery of the roller.

Having now described my invention, whatI l tially as described, and having chambers aa/ claim, and desireto secure by Letters Patent, formed therein, gradually increasing in size isfrom the ends to the centers of the ribs, as and 1. A` rib for rollers for sizing or felting hatfor the purpose set forth. y bodies, made of elastic material of a uniform In witness whereof I have hereunto set my degree of flexibility throughout its length, and hand, at New York, county and State of New decreasing in sectional area from the ends to York, this 29th day of April, A. D. 1884.l the center, substantially as and for the purpose Set forth. ETHEIJBERT BELKNAP.

2. Inl a roller for sizing or feltinghat-bodies, the combination of the roller b with the ribs a a, of elastic material, secured thereto, substanl Witnesses:

ALFRED SHEDLooK, H. l). VILLIAMs. 

